It’s getting very close to the start of early voting for San Antonio’s municipal election scheduled for May 14th. Early voting will start on May 2nd and run through May 10th at various locations around the city. Several people have been making their endorsements of candidates and I should as well, considering how closely I try to follow the municipal environment in San Antonio. This round is what I call the obvious or simple endorsements. In many cases it’s because there is one strong candidate in the field. Regardless, an assessment should be made of the field since all races have multiple candidates. I’ll come out with endorsements in District 1, 4 and 7 later.
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As many have probably seen, the world news front has been focused on the unrest happening in Egypt with mass demonstrations throughout the country. Most of the discord is focused on the perceived tyrannical rule of Pres. Hosni Mubarak that has lasted 30 years, with some blaming reckless practices by the president and increasing social instability as reasons for the protests. What started as student uprisings has now spread to all of Egypt, including religious conservatives. Seeing this dissatisfaction with a president who seems to have claimed the office for life reminds me of a situation close to home that is causing a different type of unrest about a declining system. Read more…
In two weeks San Antonio will begin the process of planning for the city’s future with the kickoff of SA 2020. It’s an initiative being led by Mayor Julian Castro and involving many of our city’s leaders. But what makes it even more important is that it will also involve the citizens of San Antonio in helping shape the direction of San Antonio for the next 10-15 years. This will be an exciting six month journey as we come together as a city, bring our ideas and dreams for what we want San Antonio to look like in a decade and beyond. It’s a chance to help shape one of the fast growing major cities in the nation into an even greater place to live and work. Read more…
Today Scott Stroud wrote in his column in the Express-News about how Mayor Julian Castro is facing big challenges barely into his first year in office. First Castro is faced with the decision over CPS’s future investment in the South Texas Nuclear Project, an issue that has been controversial since it was first introduced by CPS. In a time when San Antonio is experiencing strong growth making sure there will be a reliable energy source for the future has created the need for a critical decision. Now, after meeting with the Express-News editorial board, Castro appears ready to take on the next infrastructure need of the city – water. But these aren’t the only issues Castro is ready to tackle. High on his list are transportation, education, and development of the urban core of the city. So will Castro’s legacy as mayor be investments in San Antonio’s infrastructure? Read more…
Today an article in the Express-News disclosed that Mayor Julian Castro, in response to a request for open meetings by the Express-News, postponed the upcoming executive session with CPS to allow them to determine what items could be discussed in open session and what required executive session. “There cannot be even the perception that any portion of this process isn’t as open as it should be,” Castro said. One word sums up that move in my mind – COOL! Castro has demonstrated a strong desire to hear the public during his first year in office. He’s learned a lot in the four years since leaving city council and those lessons can help lead to great movements in our city. The question is if the public can learn to discuss the issues in a civil manner. Read more…
Today Mayor Julian Castro proposed a new set of ethics reforms for city council that will be taken up by council in session next week. The proposal marks several changes to campaign contributions such as prohibiting not only but officers, attorneys/lobbyists, spouses and consultants of companies pursuing high-profile contracts with the city from making contributions to council members and the mayor. Castro also discussed CPS’s potential investment in expanding nuclear generation at STP. Finally, Castro said that possibilities of mixed-use development in Hemisfair Park will be an upcoming priority. It is evident from his actions in the first few months of office that he will be pursuing an aggressive agenda for San Antonio’s future. Read more…
Last week Julian Castro took off as mayor of the city of San Antonio. Castro enters office after winning the mayoral race without having to face a run-off, carrying 56% of the vote. Castro’s win makes him the first mayor to win the election outright in over 15 years. While that might indicate Castro has some latitude in establishing his own agenda, he also follows two very successful terms of Mayor Phil Hardberger. Hardberger’s administration is being touted as one of the most successful in recent San Antonio history, marking four years of notable city projects, public exposure, and changing the face of city government. So what does Castro face as he takes office? What issues could help define Castro’s term as mayor? Read more…
Today the Express-News announced that columnist Jaime Castillo has joined Mayor-elect Julian Castro’s administrative team as the director of communications and senior policy analyst. According to the article “Castro said he asked Castillo to be part of the team because of his knowledge of city issues and his solid reputation in the community.” Personally I agree with this assessment and feel Castillo will make a great addition to the Castro team. However, this announcement will most definitely be met with quite a bit of skepticism and controversy. Throughout the Castro campaign Castillo wrote many pro-Castro opinion pieces that appeared in his column in the Express-News. Some may view Castro’s decision as payback for Castillo’s favorable views on Castro. Read more…
Last night the 2009 San Antonio municipal election culminated with the election of Julian Castro as the city’s next mayor. Castro led from the start with 56.8% of the early vote, ending the night with 56.23%. Trish DeBerry-Mejia ended the night with 28.98% and had 28.3% of the early vote. Diane Cibrian only garnered 8.13% and had 8% of the early vote. With these kind of results it appears early voting could be a solid indicator of how elections will end since the early vote tracked with the final results. What is disappointing is that only 11.61% of registered voters turned out for this critical election for San Antonio, registering the lowest turnout for a non-incumbent mayoral race over the past decade. Read more…
This past weekend, as many of you are probably aware, I attended SXSWi in Austin. I had to cut the trip short to get some work in this week but it’s still going on. It was my first time but it’s definitely not going to be my last. I’m already planning my trip for next year and plan to pitch it at work as well. Never before have I seen such a great collection of creative web and social media enthusiasts as I did this past weekend. What’s even more exciting are the ideas I got to bring back to the Castro mayoral campaign. To continue that excitement I know Julian wants to talk about these ideas to see how we can help advance civic development in San Antonio through them. Read more…
Tonight the Castro Campaign hosted their first Blogger Summit with a live webcast over the Internet. About 8-10 people showed up to ask questions of Julian Castro on a variety of topics from social media to transportation in San Antonio. Members of the San Antonio media including the Express-News and Current participated in the summit. What made it even more successful was that questions were also fielded from the chat room on the Internet. While the number may have seemed low at 30 apparently it was more than the number that attended Trish DeBerry-Mejia’s Tweet Up event held at the same time. Read more…
Yesterday a small crowd gathered at the former Stop ‘N Go located at 3003 Broadway across from Lions Field for the grand opening of Julian Castro’s campaign headquarters. I’ve never been good at crowd estimates but I would guess around 200 people attended the opening. While the offices have been open for the past week or so yesterday’s event signaled the true beginning of the grassroots effort to elect Castro mayor in May. At the end of the event volunteers were trained for blockwalking, phone banking and a variety of other campaign tasks critical to any successful grassroots effort. Read more…
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